Fears grow for the welfare of Austalian journalist Peter Greste and other
reporters arrested in Egypt as prosecutors announce charges

Egypt's crackdown on press freedoms gathered pace on Wednesday as the military-led government said it would put 20 journalists from the al-Jazeera television network on trial, including two Britons.

The announcement was made by Egyptian prosecutors, who said that the Britons – along with an Australian and a Dutch national - stood accused of "airing false news".

The charges are thought to be linked to allegations that al- Jazeera has been editorially sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, whose government was toppled in last June’s military coup. The Egyptian government has since blacklisted the Brotherhood as a terrorist group.

The statement did not name the journalists concerned, but the Australian is believed to be Peter Greste, 48, an award-winning television correspondent with al-Jazeera's English-language channel.

Mr Greste was arrested with two Arab al-Jazeera colleagues, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Adel Fahmy, and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed. He is currently being held in Cairo's Tora prison, while his colleagues are in the so-called "Scorpion prison", built for convicted terrorists.

The statement from the Egyptian prosecutor's office came just hours after supporters of Mr Greste held a press conference in London to demand his freedom.

His case has become a cause celebre for the international news media, which believes it highlights how the new military-led Egyptian government is abandoning the freedom of expression that flourished during the Arab spring.

The Egyptian prosecutor's office added that the 16 Egyptian al-Jazeera journalists had been charged with belonging to a "terrorist organisation ... and harming national unity and social peace."

The four foreigners, it said, were accused of "collaborating with the Egyptians by providing them with money, equipment, information ... and airing false news aimed at informing the outside world that the country was witnessing a civil war."

Of the 20, only eight are currently in detention. It is thought the two Britons may be roving al Jazeera correspondents who were only in the country on temporary assignments and have been charged in absentia.

The charges were announced while Mr Greste's appeal against his detention was turned down by an Egyptian court.

Heather Allan, the head of newsgathering at al-Jazeera English, who has been part of the team working to free Mr Greste, told the press conference in London that under a "worst case scenario", he could face up to two years in prison without even being charged.

Mr Greste previously worked with the BBC, CNN and Reuters and won a Peabody Award in 2011 for his work in Somalia. Many observers believe his arrest is related the fact that al-Jazeera's parent company is owned by the government of Qatar, which was a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood of Mohamed Morsi, was deposed as president of Egypt in the military-backed coup last June.

In the past al-Jazeera's news network - particularly its Arabic language service - has been accused of biased reporting in favour of the Brotherhood, although Ms Allan robustly refuted the charge.

"I am not here to speak for the state of Qatar, but we have operated in Egypt for 15 years and are the most popular channel there by far," she said. "Our journalists just get out there and meet their deadlines, they have journalist ethics and they stick to them."

In a series of recent letters from his cell in Cairo’s Tora prison, Mr Greste described his detention as a "chilling warning" to other journalists working in Egypt, be they Arabic or Western. The government has accused him and his crew of holding illegal meetings with members of the Brotherhood, which has been declared a terrorist group by the military-installed government. Mr Greste says it was simply part of his to job to report on the activities of a political party that won 40 per cent of the vote in the 2012 elections.

“The fact that we were arrested for what seems to be a set of relatively uncontroversial stories tells us a lot about what counts as "normal" and what is dangerous in post-revolutionary Egypt,” he wrote.

Mr Greste's two colleagues, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, both experienced journalists themselves, have been accused of actually being Muslim Brotherhood members. They are currently being held in the much tougher "Scorpion prison, built for convicted terrorists.

Representatives from more than 30 news organisations, including The Telegraph, have signed a statement expressing concern that the arrests have “cast a cloud over press and media freedom in Egypt".

At today's press conference, held at the Frontline Club, an organisation representing foreign correspondents, Peter Oborne, a senior Telegraph political columnist who recently visited Egypt, urged the Egyptian's government's military leader, Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, to release both the al-Jazeera team other jailed journalists. Around 40 are believed to be behind bars.

Addressing Mr Sisi, who is currently expected to run for election as president, Mr Oborne said: "It is outrageous that a great country like Egypt, which is not some tinpot state, should detain people who are doing their jobs as journalists.

"It is a shame on the nation and a blot on the record of Field Marshal Sisi in the eyes of the world."